The Department of Internal Affairs

Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

Building a safe, prosperous and respected nation



 

Local Government Cyclone Response Unit

The Department of Internal Affairs hosts a Local Government Cyclone Response Unit. This dedicated working group comprises senior leadership from DIA’s Local Government Branch, from Taituarā — Local Government Professionals Aotearoa and Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).

Consultation for proposed Order in Council: Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023:

Clarification of consultation requirements for specified councils

Consultation is now closed.

This Order in Council proposes to allow specified councils to decide on making voluntary buyout offers to owners of properties that have been severely impacted by the 2023 North Island weather events, without having to amend their long-term plans as required by the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act).

Under the Act, these councils would be required to complete an amendment to their long-term plan (LTP) before making voluntary buyout offers to affected property owners. This requirement could further delay resolution for property owners and communities about the future of severely affected land.

What are we proposing?
We are proposing to temporarily suspend the requirement for specified councils to complete an amendment to their 2021-31 LTPs on the topic of voluntary buyouts before making offers to property owners. These councils will still be required to consult their communities, but will not have to use the LTP amendment process to do so.

Councils that have already started a LTP amendment process on voluntary buyout proposals are not prevented from continuing, and any council that wishes to consult on this matter through a LTP amendment process are not prevented from doing so.

The specified councils are Auckland Council, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Gisborne District Council, Hastings District Council, Thames-Coromandel District Council, Wairoa District Council, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

For more details on our proposal, please see the link below:

Why are we proposing this?

This modification would enable these councils to bring certainty to property owners and communities who have been waiting on a resolution without further delays. This change is enabling rather than mandatory and councils may continue to use LTP amendment consultation processes if they so choose.

Send us feedback:

If you have any feedback or questions on this proposal, please send it to LGCycloneRecovery@dia.govt.nz.

This consultation is OPEN until on 31 August 2023.

Previous Consultations

Consultation for Severe weather recovery: Preparation of an OiC to replace the 2024 long-term plan with a three-year plan for eight local authorities.

This consultation CLOSED on 4 August 2023.

This year councils across Aotearoa New Zealand have been heavily affected by severe weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle. Now they are focused on recovering and rebuilding.

While they do this work, the Act requires all councils to write-up a 10 year LTP. To do this, councils need to forecast spending and make decisions about how they will serve their communities for the next decade. These plans are then audited by the Auditor General to ensure they meet the LTP standards in the Act. They need to write these plans every 3 years, with the next deadline in June 2024.

Affected councils will find it hard to complete this 2024 LTP to a reasonable standard. Those councils are, and will be, struggling to obtain good information and make assumptions to make quality plans. This is because the level of cyclone damage has created uncertainty about costs, funding, and the timing and extent of recovery work they need to do.

What are we proposing?
We are proposing to temporarily change these requirements in the Act so that 8 heavily affected councils be required to produce an LTP:

  • For only a minimum of 3 years, with a focus on cyclone recovery;
  • Those councils can plan all the way up to 10 years if they see fit; and
  • The LTP will not be audited.

The 8 councils are Kaipara and Far North District Councils, Gisborne, and all councils within the Hawke’s Bay Region (Central Hawke’s Bay, Hastings, Wairoa District Councils, Napier City Council, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council).

For more details on our proposal, please see the link below:
Proposal to amend eight councils’ long-term planning requirements (PDF, 61KB).

Why are we proposing this?
This modification will give affected councils the time and space to focus on recovery and looking after their communities in the immediate term. Long term planning is best practice but is not practical given recent events. There is good precedent for this form of relief. A similar change was made in response to the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

Send us feedback:
If you have any feedback or questions on this proposal, please send it to LGCycloneRecovery@dia.govt.nz.

This consultation CLOSED on 4 August 2023.

Information on previous Orders in Council: Consultation for the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery (Local Government) Order 2023

This consultation CLOSED on 10 May 2023.

The Department consulted on an Order in Council to make eight temporary amendments to three local government Acts:

  • Local Government Act 2002
  • Local Government (Rating) Act 2002
  • Local Government (Financial reporting and prudence) Regulations 2014

These amendments propose to simplify legislative processes, extend statutory timeframes for key documents to be published, and allow councils to continue to collect rates and provide services to the community in an efficient and effective manner.

The Order will apply to the following Councils: Gisborne (Tairawhiti) District Council, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Wairoa District Council, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Thames-Coromandel District Council.